


Bokuto's Strengths

by quinnlocke



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Light Angst, Manga Spoilers, Regret, Team Dynamics, The result of me having feelings about chapter 261
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-29 15:40:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11443929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quinnlocke/pseuds/quinnlocke
Summary: “If it were me, I’d be getting pissed off around now and start hitting it into the net or out of bounds...”The fact that this statement shocked him is what is killing him inside. Because of course Bokuto knows his own weaknesses. He’s not a fool. He’s not the clown he wants everyone to see him as. He’s so much more than just an itemized list of weaknesses, and how dare he break him down to just that. Akaashi hates the thoughts that ran through his mind today. He hates that he ever doubted Bokuto.





	Bokuto's Strengths

Akaashi is awake, but that is to be expected. He so rarely falls asleep as quickly as the rest of his teammates. The night owl of Fukurodani, how appropriate. However he is awake tonight for reasons that are quite different from the norm. 

He has spent many nights awake; studying, going over plays, or watching videos of their competitors. He has stayed up; memorizing notes in his mind for tests, reading books, or sometimes just letting his mind wander aimlessly through the evening. 

Tonight however, he’s awake because his mind won’t wander, because it can’t let go of the thing that has been on his mind since the afternoon. His absolute failure as a vice captain, teammate, and most of all best friend.

_“If it were me, I’d be getting pissed off around now and start hitting it into the net or out of bounds...”_

The fact that this statement shocked him is what is killing him inside. Because of course Bokuto knows his own weaknesses. He’s not a fool. He’s not the clown he wants everyone to see him as. He’s so much more than just an itemized list of weaknesses, and how dare he break him down to just that. Akaashi hates the thoughts that ran through his mind today. He hates that he ever doubted Bokuto. 

“Agaash?” Bokuto sits up his hair falling over his forehead. He rubs at his eyes and looks at the time. “You should be asleep.”

Akaashi nods. “I will be soon, promise.”

“You all right?”

“Yeah,” Akaashi lies and he knows the hitch in his voice gives him away, as does the way he’s twisting his fingers together. “Fine.”

“Akaashi,” Bokuto says before scooting out from under his blankets. He crawls over to Akaashi’s futon and sits down in front of him. “What’s wrong? You nervous about tomorrow?”

Akaashi purses his lips, afraid to speak lest he let the dam of his emotions burst.

“We’re gonna be amazing out there. We always are. After all we’ve got me right?”

Akaashi nods. “You are our ace, and our captain.”

Bokuto’s head tilts and he narrows his eyes. “Something's wrong. Come on Akaashi, tell me.”

“I doubted you today. I doubted you and I hate myself for it.”

“How?”

“Today, during Karasuno’s match, you… you mentioned if you had been in Tanaka’s place, you would be frustrated and possibly hitting balls out of bounds.”

“Well yeah, we all know how I can get. You and the team always pull me through though.”

“That’s not the point,” he interjects. “The point is I found myself surprised that you acknowledged it. I was surprised that you, someone who I look up to immensely, was aware of your own faults. I hate myself for this. I hate that I have let myself forget the most important thing about you. And that is your strengths. I’ve spent all this time paying attention to your faults and finding ways to fix them that I let myself forget your strengths.”

Bokuto pauses and Akaashi fears for a moment at the repercussions of his statement. He’s on the third possibility in his mind when Bokuto does something unexpected. He hugs him.

They have shared hugs before. Most of their victories were followed by large group hugs, the entire team ecstatic and holding one another. This is different from those hugs. Bokuto’s grip is soft and his hands rub up and down his spine. “Bokuto-san?”

“You looked like you were gonna cry there, Akaashi.”

Akaashi puts a hand to his face and realizes that yes, his eyes are wet and on the verge of spilling tears. He takes a deep breath and lets a few fall before burying his face in Bokuto’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

Bokuto pulls back and takes Akaashi’s hands before he can start pulling and twisting at them again. “Listen, I’m not gonna lie and say I’m not a little bit hurt… ‘cause I am. But, there’s no point in staying mad. You’re my best friend, and despite your terrible assessment of me today, you’ve always been there for me.”

“I like how I feel when you are at your best,” he admits, a few stray tears betraying him as he speaks. Bokuto reaches forward and brushes them away.

“You bring the best of out me. You may not have a list of my strengths, but you know them.”

“I do, I do know them.”

“Good,” Bokuto says with a smile. “Cause you're gonna be tellin’ them to me tomorrow during the match to keep me pumped up.”

Akaashi laughs and gives Bokuto a gentle punch in the arm. “I think that’s fair. We should go to bed.”

“You actually gonna go to bed or are you gonna stay up watching plays of our competition?” Bokuto asks as he slips back under his blanket. He rolls onto his side and watches Akaashi slide under his own covers. 

“Actual sleep Bokuto-san,” he says with a yawn. He reaches a hand out and Bokuto does the same. Their fingers interlock and Akaashi smiles. “Strength Number One.”

“Oh?”

“You are kind.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I had a lot of feelings regarding the latest chapter.
> 
> This was me pouring all of them out. Thank you to [Foxyena](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxyena/pseuds/Foxyena) for the last minute beta.


End file.
